Are Oats Gluten Free?

[lizjay]

Does anyone out there know if oats are gluten free? My Grandmother made sone cookies with oats and she told me they were gluten free. I don't want to eat them until I know. I don't need to get sick again.

[KaitiUSA]

I strongly oppose oats....they are highly contaminated with wheat. Oats themselves are ok but they are highly contaminated so stay away from them is my opinion.

[lizjay]

Thank you for your quick response. I could not find a definite answer any where.

[Guest gliX]

Hmm, are you sure? I eat oatmeal all the time and was told by a nutritionist that they are fine to eat after a year of being gluten-free. Also, are grits gluten-free?

[tarnalberry]

There are two issues with oats:

1) Oats are pretty much universally contaminated. Unless you grow, harvest, and process them in your own back yard, they come in contact with wheat either in the field, in the processing, or in the shipping. Independent testing has backed up the "contaminated" claim.

2) Some, but by no means all, or even the majority, of celiacs DO react to avenin, the protein in oats. It's chemical structure is similar to that of gliandin, the wheat protein, but different enough that most celiacs' immune systems don't see it as a problem. Some celiacs do react to it, however, and if they do, it can cause damage. At the moment, aside from repeated biopsies, I don't think there is a way to determine if any given celiac will react to oats without a dietary challenge. If you don't always have strong reactions, however, this could be a very misleading way to determine if you can have oats. If you're one of the celiacs who does not react to oats, however, I refer back to item 1).

(Which is unfortunate, because oats are fab for baking!)

[gf4life]

Grits are gluten-free. They are made from corn (hominy actually, which is a large kernel corn).

Make sure they are plain though, or that the flavored grits don't have gluten in any of the added ingredients.

We don't eat oats either. Not worth the risk of contamination. We have tried McCann's Oats (which are generally recognised as being the least contaminated), but no one liked them...

God bless,

Mariann

[KaitiUSA]

gliX-yes oats are not gluten free...very much contaminated...I stay away from them completely. There was a post on here a while back that had a report about oats tested and the numbers of the wheat in them were shocking!

Nutritionists don't know everything about celiac...one told me I could have spelt!!! You have to do checking yourself because when it comes to gluten anything is possible.

avenin which is the protein in oats that tarnelberry mentioned can cause reactions and damage. It's just better to stay away from them in my opinion.

[Guest gliX]

i've been having oatmeal for a year now, and have never even had the slightest reaction.

after this information i will try and stay away from them.

[Guest gliX]

also, i only have a mild case of celiac, thats probably why the nutritionist told me that

and...when I first found out I had celiac my numbers were high, which is for common for someone with celiac...then i went gluten-free for a year and the numbers were normal. and then i had oats for a few months and my blood numbers remained normal, so the doctor told me oats was fine.

[Guest Viola]

I don't think there are 'degrees' in Celiac disease, you either have it or you don't. All gluten contamination causes damage.

In Canada oats are considered not to be gluten free at any time. It's printed right on our restaurant cards.

And your right Kaiti, I've had both nutritionists and Alternative doctors tell me I could eat spelt.

[KaitiUSA]

gliX-There are no degrees of celiac...you have it or you don't..

If you have celiac whether or not you react to it doesn't mean a thing...some celiacs don't get symptoms.

It still does damage to your intestines.

Viola-yeah some doctors and nutririonists are not up on things like they should.New celiacs who are told this by them may learn the hard way because of their advice. It's crazy

[Guest gliX]

Well I was told I had a mild case, and my cousin has a severe case. When i was not gluten-free, I had absolutely no reaction to wheat in any way, but for my cousin, he was short and his bones were growing in irregularly.

[angel-jd1]

There are varied levels of damage, NOT varied levels of celiac disease. It is a yes/no type thing. Sorry.

Many people have no symptoms at all and are still doing damage to their bodies.

-Jessica

[Deby]

A doctor at the Children's Hospital in Denver (where I live) did an extensive study on oat contamination. His results were that oats are too contaminated for the gluten-free diet. The Dr is Ed Hoffenberg. He is nationally recognized as an expert in the study of celiac disease. We have him speak at our support meetings about once a year. His oat results are on the web somewhere. I'm not savvy enough to find them, but if someone else can dig them up, that would be great. Ed emailed the findings to me but I don't have them anymore.

I'm looking to get a grower to grow oats for my bakery and a miller to mill them just for me. That would be awesome as I really do enjoy oats and still succumb and eat them occasionally. Sometimes I do get a gut ache that I recognize as a celiac disease contamination issue. I grew up eating oatmeal for breakfast and as a young adult had it every morning. I miss it but bottom line is, it's not safe.

[KaitiUSA]

gliX-symptoms do not matter with celiac...someone without symptoms may have just as much damage to their intestines as someone with severe symptoms. As said in a post by Jessica...there are levels of damage but not celiac. Some people catch celiac before alot of damage is done which is good but still does not change the fact they are celiac and need to avoid gluten just as much as someone with severe damage....

I'm sorry and I hope this info has helped out

[celiac3270]

From Jessica's support group (USA Silly Yaks):

A registered dietician took 12 containers of rolled or steel cut

oats that represented 4 different lots of three brand names. The

brands being McCanns, Country Choice, and Quaker.

The ELISA R5 test was used on the 12 samples. All of the brands

showed contamination!!!

McCann's

1st- below level of detection (so under 3ppm)

2st- below 20ppm

3nd- 23ppm

4rd- 725ppm

Country Choice

1st- below 20ppm

2nd-4th ranged from 120-210ppm

Quaker

All four tested from 338-1807ppm

Under 20ppm is the codex standard used to determine Gluten

free.........but all of the brands showed some crazy levels of

contamination and were inconsistent. I wouldn't trust them!!

So...no oats for me!

[Guest gliX]

well they definitely are contaminated but might they differ on who eats them? After a recent exam, my blood numbers were normal and intestines had changed to normal. they said everything looked good.

[Carriefaith]

For me it's not worth the risk, It's obvious most oats are contaminated. I don't trust them so I don't eat them!

[gabrielle]

I'm sorry... But what in the world is SPELT????

[Guest Viola]

SPELT is a German wheat. It is lower in gluten, but not gluten free.

[celiac3270]

Ooh...very interesting information from Anne Lee about oats. I'll put it in a post under the coping section which I'll do later on the Celiac conference.

[KaitiUSA]

I'm sorry... But what in the world is SPELT????

Some people falsy label it as gluten free but it is not...it is a form of wheat

[plantime]

I'm looking to get a grower to grow oats for my bakery and a miller to mill them just for me. That would be awesome as I really do enjoy oats

Monica, when you do, please let me know. I would love to buy some and have my morning bowl of oatmeal agin!

[celiac3270]

I think you'll be able to have McCanns--I'll explain in that other post when I get around to typing up 32 pgs...lol...maybe I'll just summarize it in 1/4 of that.

[gabrielle]

Thank you for letting me know! It makes sense to me that it is a German wheat- where i live it is a very German town and I see it everywhere. I am glad I didn't have any... I really wasnt sure what kind of grain it was. Thanks so much